1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to file storage, and more particularly, to a method for incrementally backing up database files.
2. Description of the Related Art
Modern computer networks generally comprise a plurality of user computers connected to one another and to a computer server via a communication network. To provide redundancy and high availability of the information in applications that are executed upon the computer server, multiple computer servers may be arranged in a cluster, i.e., forming a server cluster. Such server clusters are available under the trademark VERITAS CLUSTER SERVER from Veritas Software Corporation at Mountain View, Calif. In a server cluster, a plurality of servers communicate with one another to facilitate failover redundancy such that when software or hardware, i.e., computer resources, become inoperative on one server, another server can quickly execute the same software that was running on the inoperative server substantially without interruption. In addition to providing redundancy and high availability measures, a computer network is required to backup copious amounts of data on cluster servers in order to achieve a reliable and steadfast network environment.
One form of data commonly backed up to a cluster server is a database file. Traditional methods for backing up database files residing on a client computer, such as MICROSOFT OUTLOOK Personal Folder Files (known as PST files because these files carry the extension “pst”), consume a significant amount of network bandwidth. Notably, considerable amounts of redundant data are transferred over the network every time a backup of these files is performed. For example, a PST file contains detailed information about a user's e-mail, calendar, contacts, journal, notes, and other data needed to support the functionality of OUTLOOK. A PST file, or any database file, is typically very large in size and is frequently modified. However, backing up the entire database file every time a change is made to the file is an inefficient use of network resources.
Therefore, a need exists in the art for a more efficient method and apparatus for the capture and backup the incremental changes in a database file.